In a world where a mere kilometer can separate abundance from austerity, Zambia stands as a cautionary tale a nation paying triple for fuel while its oil-rich neighbor Angola practically gives it away. The numbers are damning. The irony is heartbreaking. And the silence? Deafening.
In Angola, a liter of petrol goes for just $0.327. In Zambia, the same liter costs $1.163 an unforgiving difference of $0.836 per liter. It’s a pricing gap that transcends economics. It screams geopolitical miscalculation. It exposes a failure of vision. And it leaves Zambian households, transporters, and small businesses crushed under the weight of a commodity that should be affordable in a region so rich in resources.
Angola isn’t just lucky — it’s strategic. Ranked as Africa’s fourth-largest oil producer and 18th globally, Angola pumps out about 1.2 million barrels of crude oil every day, yet consumes only 150,000 barrels domestically. The rest over 1 million barrels daily is exported, earning the country a staggering $31.4 billion in 2024 alone. China, Spain, India, France, and the Netherlands are top destinations for Angolan crude. But not Zambia. Never Zambia.
Instead, Lusaka turns 7,000 kilometers eastward to import refined petroleum from the Middle East, burning through nearly $1.8 billion annually for approximately 2 million metric tons of petroleum products. The irony? Zambia and Angola share 1,110 kilometers of border, are both members of SADC, and sit just 2,300 kilometers apart by road. Yet one pumps prosperity while the other imports poverty.
This is not a story about oil alone. It is a story of the betrayal of potential. A story of how Africa’s borders, drawn in Berlin and maintained in boardrooms, continue to suffocate cooperation. Why has Zambia failed to ink a bilateral fuel deal with Angola, especially when doing so could cut pump prices by nearly $0.60 per liter even at Angola’s retail price?
The answer lies in decades of dependence. In systems designed to keep Africa externally reliant. In politics that reward inefficiency and diplomacy that lacks boldness. And in leaders more willing to fly to Dubai than to drive to Luanda.
The consequences are not abstract. For Zambians, high fuel prices mean higher transport costs, more expensive food, shrinking disposable income, and stalled development. A boda rider in Lusaka pays more per liter than an Uber driver in Madrid. This isn’t just unfair it’s enraging. And yet, it doesn’t have to be this way.
Imagine an Africa where borders mean opportunity, not isolation. Where Angola supplies oil not just to the West, but to its neighbors under African terms. Where Zambia, DRC, and Malawi enter joint refining and distribution agreements. Where infrastructure is built to connect, not to divide. Where policy is driven by Pan-African logic, not colonial hangovers.
Africa has been cheated by others yes. But it is also cheating itself. And that must stop.
The Zambian government has a duty to act not tomorrow, but now. Negotiations with Angola should not be diplomatic dreams but operational realities. Establish a corridor. Sign a deal. Build a refinery. Bring fuel home.
Because until Africa learns to do business with itself, it will continue buying back its blessings at a premium.
This is a call to rethink. To revolt gently, wisely, and purposefully — against the systems that no longer serve us. It’s time we stopped being grateful for crumbs while we sit on gold.
Let Zambia be the last country where a liter of fuel costs a mother her meal, a child their school fees, and a nation its dignity when help is just across the border.
What can you expect when we have a party in GRZ praising the Lobitor Corridor instead???
Instead of complaining, research the geography of where to lay a pipe line , costs, implications and tell us about that….
FWD2031
lazy thinking. If the TAZARA rail way was built where it is, If the Chinese can make surface roads on the rivers, we should not entertain such simplistic thoughts bwana. It’s doable.
It’s because in Zambia leadership has no regards to its citizens you will find that the powers that be are benefiting from these oil deals
Is the author scared of revealing himself? Because he is a UPND cadre? And he is embarrassing his own government by revealing its lack of initiative? Businessman Kavindele has been crying for a railway link with Angola via N. West Province so that oil can be imported and refined in Mwinilunga. Noone listens to him because leadership cant see any benefit for themselves. We dont have politicians who work for the people. Only for themselves
The author has done well and should not be attacked. He is right to be afraid lest he/ she be charged with seditious practices and silenced.
Deals get done by trail blazers. Changing the world is easier than analysis. How about taking ERB to court for criminal negligence?
You can also take them to court, it shouldn’t just be the author. Any well meaning Zambian should, including me.
Angola Prosperous ?? Where’s the funds going then ? certainly not the people
According to who ???
Luanda is certainly better than Lusaka. Even rural Angola is better than rural Zed
The point is not about where the money is going, the author’s point is that it (the money) is being made.
You always want to shoot down everything, mindset change is key, for once, challenge yourselves and not always be negative,
No that is not always the case as ills always have to be brought to the fore and not swept under the carpet
Dear Mr Allah, the author is doing his bit to fight this wrong and you? what have you done about this wrong? You have elected to criticize a voice of reason. With more people like you, we certainly can’t go far.
The simple question is do we have the money to lay the pipeline from Luanda to Ndola? There is no money, and we cannot borrow again. If it was so simple as you have put it even the former governments would have done it.
Very simplistic thinking. Did we have money when we were building TAZARA? did we have money when we were building the TAZAMA pipeline?
Indeed simplistic. How can one ask whether we do have money to build a pipeline yet he is paying more money buying oil from Saudi Arabia? Its like that French royalty who told her citizens No bread? Eat Cake. Or asking do we have money to survive yet you have money to drink Chivas Regal.
Author, Does Angola have loadshedding?
What does this have to do with anything? If you read right, the author used the word ”Never” have we always had loadshedding?
Its a question Mr Truth. Why are you getting worked up with a question? Stop reading opinions into it. are you the author?